Colorado is a unique and special place. With its vast prairies, high mountains, deep canyons and numerous river headwaters, Colorado is truly a crossroad of biodiversity that provides a rich environment for abundant and diverse species of wildlife. Our rich wildlife heritage is a source of pride for our citizens and can be an incredibly powerful teaching tool in the classroom. To help teachers and students learn about Colorado’s ecosystems and its wildlife, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (formerly Division of Wildlife) has prepared a set of ecosystem posters and this education guide. Together they will provide an overview of the biodiversity of our state as it applies to the eight major ecosystems of Colorado.
—Russell George, former Director, Division of Wildlife
From the introduction to Wild Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity: "While all of the benefits (of biodiversity) are incentive for all of us to protect and preserve biodiversity, many people feel that each species should be respected and protected simply because it exists. We don’t always know how a species or an ecosystem can or will benefit us. Perhaps we’re encouraged by the beauty we see in diverse landscapes, or by how we feel after we’ve been in a diverse landscape, to treasure biodiversity for its own sake."
Preview, or print, the complete educator's guide and see sample images from the series of eight posters;
Subalpine Forest poster;
Pinon-Juniper Woodlands poster;
Sage Shrublands poster. (The guide is a pdf file and about 8MB in size.)
Bound copies of the guide–and the full-color posters–are available for free, and may be picked up at one of our regional offices. You may also email your request to your
regional education coordinator to have a set shipped.
